ePromos’ CEO, Jason Robbins, recently attended the Maroon 5/Kelly Clarkson concert at Jones Beach in Wantagh, New York, and witnessed great marketing and the great use of promotional products in action.

The 2013 Honda Civic Tour, an annual concert tour sponsored by Honda Motor Company, is in its 12th year. It must be a good investment if the company continues to do it over and over again. Marketers who do things repeatedly must be getting good results – otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. Honda is a perfect example.

As you know, at ePromos, nothing excites us more than the effective use of promotional items that can make a statement, but also do their job, stopping people in their tracks, wowing them and providing them with something tangible.

Whoever receives the promotional lanyards will be reminded of the tour and the experience they had. They’re going to associate the band with the brand, and be reminded every day that they used this lanyard.

The lanyard had a breakaway, which means no strangling risk and no issues (Honda’s lawyers no doubt like this).

Then, there are the programs. Everyone hates how expensive programs are when they attend concerts and shows. Honda brilliantly created a mini program that highlighted the band complete with interviews inside, and wrapped it up in a well-executed advertising vehicle.

Honda attached the programs to the lanyards, which can be reused after the event. Approximately 600,000 people are expected to see 33 concerts around the country. That’s huge brand exposure for Honda, Honda Financial Services and Maroon 5.

The promotion is centered around the fact that people don’t like spending $15 on a program, so why not provide them with a freebie? When attached to a lanyard, it’s great advertising for Civic all over the concert.

There was also a social media aspect. Before and between the different acts, concert-goers could text or tweet with the hashtag #hondacivictour. Honda did a great job burning its name into the minds of attendees, targeting its line of automotive products to those attending the concerts.

Adam Levine and James Valentine were spokespeople for Honda’s products, which was a great way to associate the Honda brand with Maroon 5. A sweepstakes to win a motorcycle and car designed with Maroon 5’s colors rounded out the promotion.